Book contents
- Great Christian Jurists in American History
- Law and Christianity
- Great Christian Jurists in American History
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: Christianity and American Law
- 1 John Cotton and Roger Williams
- 2 John Winthrop and the Covenantal Ideal
- 3 Friendly Laws: William Penn’s Christian Jurisprudence
- 4 The Friendly Jurisprudence and Early Feminism of John Dickinson
- 5 Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth, and the Formation of America’s Constitutional Order
- 6 John Jay: The First Chief Justice
- 7 James Wilson
- 8 Was Justice Joseph Story a Christian Constitutionalist?
- 9 Harvard’s Evangelist of Evidence: Simon Greenleaf’s Christian Common Sense
- 10 John Marshall Harlan the Elder
- 11 Judicial Conservatism and Protestant Faith: The Case of Justice David J. Brewer
- 12 John T. Noonan, Jr.: Catholic Jurist and Judge
- 13 The Integrative Christian Jurisprudence of Harold J. Berman
- 14 Antonin Scalia: Devout Christian; Worldly Judge?
- 15 The Insights and Transitions of Mary Ann Glendon
- 16 A Reformed Liberalism: Michael McConnell’s Contributions to Christian Jurisprudence
- 17 The Jurisprudence of Robert P. George
- Index
16 - A Reformed Liberalism: Michael McConnell’s Contributions to Christian Jurisprudence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2019
- Great Christian Jurists in American History
- Law and Christianity
- Great Christian Jurists in American History
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction: Christianity and American Law
- 1 John Cotton and Roger Williams
- 2 John Winthrop and the Covenantal Ideal
- 3 Friendly Laws: William Penn’s Christian Jurisprudence
- 4 The Friendly Jurisprudence and Early Feminism of John Dickinson
- 5 Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth, and the Formation of America’s Constitutional Order
- 6 John Jay: The First Chief Justice
- 7 James Wilson
- 8 Was Justice Joseph Story a Christian Constitutionalist?
- 9 Harvard’s Evangelist of Evidence: Simon Greenleaf’s Christian Common Sense
- 10 John Marshall Harlan the Elder
- 11 Judicial Conservatism and Protestant Faith: The Case of Justice David J. Brewer
- 12 John T. Noonan, Jr.: Catholic Jurist and Judge
- 13 The Integrative Christian Jurisprudence of Harold J. Berman
- 14 Antonin Scalia: Devout Christian; Worldly Judge?
- 15 The Insights and Transitions of Mary Ann Glendon
- 16 A Reformed Liberalism: Michael McConnell’s Contributions to Christian Jurisprudence
- 17 The Jurisprudence of Robert P. George
- Index
Summary
Michael McConnell is one of the most influential constitutional scholars of the past thirty years. He has written a great deal about religious liberty, but relatively little about how his own religious beliefs may relate to his constitutional jurisprudence. This chapter is the first to explore the connection between McConnell’s religious views and scholarship. The chapter engages with a short piece by McConnell that sketches the outlines of a “reformed liberalism.” McConnell argued that reformed Christian theology is compatible with the classical liberalism that animated the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Though he did not develop this account into a full-blown theory, McConnell’s view deserves to be considered alongside others, whether they are liberal theories that downplay the importance of religion, or Christian political theologies that reject liberalism. McConnell’s view also illuminates his scholarship on religious liberty, religion in public discourse, and judicial humility.
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- Information
- Great Christian Jurists in American History , pp. 282 - 299Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019